If you’re in Paris this weekend, I recommend you head to Chanel’s Little Black Jacket exhibition at the Grand Palais. After gracing the galleries of Tokyo, New York City, Taipei, Hong Kong, London, Moscow and Sydney, the exhibition has finally made it to Chanel’s birthplace.

What does the little black jacket mean to you? The piece was created by Coco Chanel in 1954 and has never ceased to be reinvented. Originally designed to be worn with a matching skirt as a suit, the iconic item is now famous for its versatility as the pictures of the exhibition can testify. Karl Lagerfeld likens it to a jean or a T-shirt. Like a little black dress, the timeless little black jacket is a wardrobe staple. It is actually Chanel’s most-sold ready-to-wear item.

There is an interesting short video on how the Chanel jacket is made here on the exhibition’s website. Aren’t you dying to get one now?

Karl Lagerfeld photographed more than a 100 celebrities of both sexes and all ages wearing the jacket styled by Carine Roitfeld. The resulting pictures are published in a book by Steidl that has sold over 100,000 units so far.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures. Which one do you like best?

Jane carrying a Birkin and her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg next to… guess who?

Karl Lagerfeld took one single picture of Laetitia Casta for this shoot. By the way, did you see the editorial he made with her and his infamous cat Choupette?

French actress and director Maiwenn Le Besco is the face of Chanel’s current eyewear campaign.

The portrait of Micheline Chaban-Delmas, the widow of a former French Prime Minister, is one of Karl Lagerfeld’s favorites. It struck me for her elegance.

This is Virginie Viard, the woman who makes the magic happen in Lagerfeld’s shadow as Chanel’s studio director. Free posters were given away at the exhibition and it’s the picture I chose to maybe one day hang in my Parisian apartment.

If you like this post, you might enjoy this one about a past exhibition of Karl Lagerfeld’s photography.

8 responses to “Chanel’s Little Black Jacket exhibition in Paris”

I just visited this exhibition over the weekend – in fact, based on the lighting in the photos and the two gentlemen handing out posters, it looks as though we may have been there at the same time! [And I actually have a similar post prepared for tomorrow :)] I was particularly blown away by the single shot of Laetitia Casta but there was something about the snapshot of Charlotte Casiraghi that I also found very touching and beautiful.
xox,
Cee